Imaging of infrared radiation may in general be considered as advantageous, since infrared radiation may carry information which is not obtainable by merely obtaining the images from the visible radiation.
The reference U.S. Pat. No. 6,687,051 describes a microscopic image apparatus for converting infrared light into visible light. The microscopic image apparatus includes a sample stage, an infrared source, an object lens for converting infrared light into visible light, a visible light source, a dichroic mirror, a visible light imaging lens and a visible light image capturing device. The object lens further includes an optical crystal and an infrared object lens. After the infrared source outputs infrared light to a sample placed on the sample stage, the object lens converts infrared light spectrum image into visible light spectrum image. Then, the visible light spectrum image is obtained by the visible light imaging lens and the visible light image capturing device.
In general, it would be advantageous if the requirements to the optical components and light sources could be reduced and/or if the quality of the generated images could be improved.